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India Diary Accounts of Howard Students Researching in Kolkata, India

Supriyo De
For more information on this program please click here

• Diary of Fatima Fanusie
• Diary of Renu Beniwal
• Diary of Supriyo De (below)
• Diary of Ericka Jenifer
• Diary of Antonette Jefferson

India Diary Accounts of Howard Students Researching in Kolkata, India Three students were selected in 2005 to go to India as part of the Howard-Jadavpur--US-India Research Intiative .  This program is coordinated by Dr. Anita Nahal.  Students interested in applying for this  Study Abroad in India experience can contact Dr. Nahal at 202-806-7887 or anahal@howard.edu . The Call for Applications for the 2006 Howard-Jadavpur--US-India Research Intiative deadline is January 20, 2006.

by Supriyo De

Calcutta is my home town. However being able to visit my home city after 2 years was an added attraction. I started my trip on November 23, 2005 from the Dulles International Airport . As I am an Indian citizen, I was unable to take the direct flight to Calcutta by British Airways as they require transit visa for UK just for changing flights. So it took 30 hours to reach Calcutta (19 hours of flight time) by KLM ! I was accompanied by my wife. All the tiredness went away seeing the smiling faces of my parents, my mother-in-law and my 4-month old nephew.

The next day, I reported to Dr. Joyashree Roy who was in charge of the Jadavpur University chapter. She introduced me to the manager of the cafeteria. The newly renovated cafeteria, which was at times pretty crowded, was excellent in Indian standards. I also met with Dr. Dipankar Chakraborti my mentor for Jadavpur University studies. The very next day I got acquainted with Dr. Chakraborti's laboratory and I also talked to other students and post-doctoral fellows and we chalked out the plan of research. Still I was having a jet lag, so I took rest that weekend and then started my research work from the next Monday.

The research experience was quite different from my experience at Howard. Work usually starts around 11 am and there was a lunch break for over an hour. So the afternoon session started around 3pm and lasted on many occasion as late as 8pm . Most of days, tea was served around 6 pm with spicy tidbits! After the days work, I used to visit my relatives sometimes as late as 11 pm at night or they used to come to our house.

My research topic was “Quantitation of Arsenic from Water, Hair, Nail, Urine and Milk”. My current PhD work is based on finding genomic biomarkers for early detection of health effects of PCBs. Arsenic is a very toxic environmental pollutant which has contaminated ground water. In India as ground water is used for drinking purposes, continuous use of much higher than permitted levels of arsenic has lead to identification of hundreds of cases of skin diseases, skin cancer, as well as other gastro-intestinal diseases. However this is merely the tip of the iceberg. Hence, early diagnosis through genomic biomarkers is highly cherished.

For the first four weeks I tried to get as much data as possible because after that there was the Christmas break and the New Year. In Calcutta , Christmas is celebrated with great enthusiasm. We also attended a big Christmas party on the ‘ Park Street ' which is the posh locality of Calcutta . On New Year eve we went for a boat ride on Ganges – the main river of West Bengal . It was a manual boat, so we were able to enjoy the quiet sunset away from all hustle bustle of the city. In the evening we toured the whole city in our cars (avoiding the awful traffic jam as far as possible) and sampling delicious Indian foods at several places and returned home just before midnight to have a dinner together with all the members of our extended family.

On January 1, 2006 we went to ‘ Dakshineswar Temple ' to get blessings for the New Year. The next 3-4 days were very hectic as I have to finish my report for submission to Dr. Chakraborti and to Dr. Roy along with the packaging for the return trip.

This award was a great opportunity for me to do a collaborative research with one of India 's best institute. It has complemented my current PhD studies at Howard University . Though the time was quite short, it has left a deep impact in my mind. I want to thank the Graduate School , Howard University and especially to Dr. Orlando L. Taylor, Dean and to Dr. Anita Nahal for awarding me this great opportunity. For future, I wish some students form the Jadavpur University can also visit Howard to share the excitement of this collaborative research.